Man gets 32 years in girlfriend's murder

September 23, 2005|By Art Barnum, Tribune staff reporter.

Derrick Robinson, who said he couldn't live without the love of the girlfriend he met in drug rehab, was sentenced Thursday to 32 years in prison for strangling the woman in her Glen Ellyn apartment in 2003.

Robinson, 41, met Julie McCloud, 40, while both were fighting their drug addictions and they began living together.

But in the summer of 2003, McCloud had overcome her addiction with a year of sobriety and kicked Robinson out of the apartment in the 500 block of Pershing Road.

Robinson, who was still using drugs, was thwarted in his efforts to rekindle the relationship and on Oct. 26, 2003, he appeared twice at her home, knocking loudly and creating enough of a disturbance to bring police twice.

After wandering through the Glen Ellyn area for several hours, including being arrested for public urination along Roosevelt Road, he appeared at McCloud's apartment in the early morning hours of Oct. 27.

After he was allowed in, she submitted to his request for one final hug.

DuPage County Assistant State's Atty. Kevin Halverson said that during that hug, "he placed her in a choke hold and she fell to the ground unconscious."

In a videotaped statement to police, Robinson said he noticed that while unconscious, she continued to breathe.

Halverson said that Robinson then took duct tape and wrapped it tightly around her head seven times, causing her to suffocate, according to an autopsy.

Before leaving the apartment, he took cash from the victim's purse and bought some liquor.

"Getting high was more important than saving her life," said Judge George Bakalis. "Your life has been driven by your drug addiction."

There was testimony that Robinson has been addicted to alcohol and drugs, including cocaine and heroin, since his teenage years on Chicago's West Side.

Robinson pleaded guilty in June to McCloud's murder, with the state agreeing to ask for no more than 60 years, out of a possible 120-year sentence. State law requires Robinson to serve 100 percent of the 32-year sentence.

Robinson claims that he covered McCloud's head in tape to prevent her from screaming. He said Thursday "something inside me snapped. I still love her and I miss her."

Skye McCloud, the victim's daughter, said: "My mother chose to stay clean. Derrick chose drugs and violence. He shouldn't have the right to see daylight again. My mother's life is worth more than 32 years."